11eyes CrossOver: Distorted Reflection
by venom00
Summary: Set in another possibility, where Amami Shuu, the second protagonist of 11eyes, decided to take on the offer of Kuroshiba Kanae, the boss of the Hollow Mirror Field arc. Rated M due to violence content.
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

Hello everyone. This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction work (seriously, my first ever). After reading the Hollow Mirror Field route of 11eyes CrossOver, I found it quite disappointing in the fact that there wasn't a Kanae Route, and there wasn't much reference to the main series (Sin, Damnation and the Atonement Girl arc) either, so I wanted to try if I can make one myself. I hope you will enjoy the reading.

**11eyes CrossOver**

—**Distorted Reflection—**

Prologue:

_Turn that Gear Around_

In this crimson world, one could hear all sorts of noise.

The sound of footsteps—

The roar of a colossal dragon—

The screams of humans being torn apart—

It was—by any means—hell.

In that city—Ayamegaoka—everyone was running. They ran from something that they didn't know of and couldn't comprehend with all their might, utilizing everything at their disposal. Some took a car, some took a bike, some used their own feet... The way to do it was diverse for each individual, but they still shared a common thing:

They didn't stop—

—because stopping was the equivalent of death.

In that city where humans lived, black creatures with tentacles had appeared out of nowhere, chasing off every moving thing they saw, and once they got a hold of something, they would eat it.

But then why didn't the people try to fight back these things? Surely there must be some who would refuse to yield to these monstrosities.

The answer was simple.

Because no matter what they tried, they could not do any harm to these creatures. As for why… if there was an answer, people wouldn't have been unable to comprehend the situation.

But those black creatures weren't the only thing out of place.

Near the remains of what used to be called the Ashihara Bridge, a colossal black dragon was spitting fire blasts from its mouth at something that the human eye couldn't see from afar—simply because getting anywhere near the bridge would be the same as adding the "being hit by the dragon's fire blasts" to the how-to-die-today list.

However, it was certain that the dragon was fighting something—or someone. Every now and then, some sort of light would appear from a glowing circle on the sky and crash into the dragon, which either injured or pissed it off, resulting even more fire blasts being released randomly.

People running for their lives, unknown hostile creatures, gigantic dragon, crimson sky… All those elements created a perfectly literal image of a like-from-an-Armageddon-movie chaos in Ayamegaoka.

In the midst of that chaos, one brown-haired boy stood still, looking at something on the ground.

A corpse—or rather what left of it.

He just stood there, silently looking down at what used to be Kuroshiba Kanae.

She was gone.

There was no denying it. The girl he loved was forever gone. No matter what he tried, bringing her back was impossible.

He turned around and looked up. Above him was a gigantic black moon—its size was immeasurable and its existence threatened every single creature on this whole planet. It wasn't quite completed—not yet at least, but nearly. Once that so-called moon reached maximum size, it would be the end of everything. That was how dangerous that thing was.

However, the boy held no interest in that pitch black object—not now, at least. His gaze was focusing on the center of that thing—on the small human figure in front of it.

A white dress… and long silver hair—

He began to walk toward that figure.

His steps felt heavy—or at least they used to. He wasn't sure how, but every step he took, the weight seemed to reduce little by little. He pressed forward, hardly realized that there were tiny purple sparks appearing at where his feet stepped on.

_Don't be afraid…_

Suddenly, he could hear Kanae's voice. Not in his ears but somewhere… deep in his core.

…_I'm always…_

More purple sparks appeared, dancing around his feet… It wasn't a dream. He could really hear her again.

…_I'm always by your side._

Now he could feel her warmth enclosing his body... No—not just warmth—power as well.

Before long, there were sparks everywhere around him, bouncing back and forth like snakes on the ground. Every single part of him was brimming with power. His whole body was lit up like a torch.

Seemingly attracted by that light, that figure looked down at him with emerald green eyes, showing a cold gaze that could pin anyone down without any efforts.

It was neither a gaze of indifference nor was it a gaze of contempt.

It was just that anyone who looked into those eyes would find himself looking at the reflection of all the filth of this world.

In those eyes, no hope could be found, no light could be seen—all those eyes reflected was a dark void, in which nothing existed, save for one thing:

Hatred.

Those eyes reflected only hatred—her hatred.

She hated this world.

It was such a deep hatred. So deep, so painful that even her existence was devoured by it. What used to be her, now only a mass of vengeance.

Any living creature would be able to feel it—that void, that hatred, that darkness.

But the boy wasn't afraid at all. In fact, he aimed to have those eyes pinned on him right at the beginning.

Before he stopped looking at Kuroshiba Kanae's corpse, those green eyes had been looking at nothing. That figure—that girl—had been in so much delight of having her wish finally realized that she totally forgot about everything else. Therefore, being able to draw her attention was quite a feat.

Because the moment she fixed her gaze on him proved that his existence was significant.

Yes…

He knew that his existence was significant enough to drag her from dreamland back to reality. And with that confirmed, there was only one thing left to do.

"Come and face me, Witch of Babylon!" Amami Shuu declared.

**Author's note:**

There is something I'd like to note. As you guys can see above, I've kept the names in the original Japanese way. Also, later chapters will use suffixes such as –kun, -chan, etc to keep the soul of some characters. I never intended to use them from the beginning, but there are some certain characters *cough* Shione *cough* whose lines can never sound right in English, so I had no choice.

That's all I want to say. See you guys in chapter 1.


	2. Chapter 1: Rewind

Chapter 1:

_Rewind_

Twelve days ago…

Ayamegaoka Central Park

"Humans learn, Amami-kun… Therefore, learn to accept reality before your very eyes," so the witch Kuroshida Kanae said.

Amami Shuu clicked his tongue. The situation wasn't looking too good.

Kuroshida was much more powerful than he had anticipated. Right now, Shuu's side was on the defensive. They couldn't attack. Shuu looked at the screen of his cell phone. It wasn't time or news that he wanted to look at. His phone was in fact a magical device specifically designed to let him use _modern magic_.

_Exhaustive Search…_

_Progress… 95% _

Before coming, Shuu had been aware of power gap between Kuroshida and himself. That was why he had activated Exhaustive Search to make sure that the possibility of winning wasn't zero.

Everything had gone according to plan—except for one thing: he didn't take into account the fact that Kuroshida's magic capacity to be this great. Exhaustive Search completion bar was almost not moving at all. It was a miracle that the number had even reached that high.

Hundreds and hundreds of purple electrical beams rained down Shuu and his companion's heads, colliding with the green sphere hanging over them. The barrier Kouno Mio had erected through the use of Worlds Collide was protecting everyone from being fried by Kuroshida's lightning. It had been very effective. Up until now, not a single beam slipped.

But that was coming to an end.

Cracks were starting to appear everywhere on the barrier, and the heavy impact from the lightning made those cracks spread even further, creating something like a spider's web pattern.

"Ha…ha…ha…"

Mio gasped for air. Her magical power was being drained like dry sponge. Worlds Collide was a very powerful spell, thus the amount of power it consumed also as equally as great. For a mage, magical power was also her life force. Magical power drained also meant life force drained... and nothing could be more dangerous than that—except for what Mio was going through right this moment.

Having Worlds Collide draining her life force wad already been straining Mio, but then Kuroshida just had to mess with modern magic—which was completely an excuse for wanting to torture Mio—out of curiosity. She had applied Demanufacturer and Nuker on Mio. Both were _not_ meant to be used on a human body.

In fact, they were technical spells for deconstructing and resetting modern magic devices in case of having been damaged in battle.

Shuu looked at his phone's screen again.

_Exhaustive Search…_

_Progress… 96%_

On a side bar, Mio's vitals were dropping steadily. She was both being assaulted by Worlds Collide's power consumption and the injuries inflicted by Kuroshida. From her pale complexion and heavy breathing, he guessed that some of her organs had been crushed and blood was circulating almost randomly inside her veins. If that was the case, she must have been spending extra energy on stabilizing herself as well.

"It just can't get any worse…"

Shuu looked around. Momono Shiori—or Ursula of the Bookshelf, the ultimate weapon of Index, the largest magical organization in the world—was having her own problem to deal with. While she had the ability to heal Mio's injuries and enable her to maintain the barrier a little longer, she was being restricted by Kuroshida as well. Her body was artificial and required magical power to operate. Kuroshida's Reality Marble: Mirror Maze however, forbade one to tap into their magical power reserve without linking their magic circuits into the Od, the life force of certain people. For this reason, Shuu had used Kuroshida's servant, Galatea's core to enable Shiori's movement.

However, all lied within the witch's calculations.

Galatea's core allowed the one bearing it to tap into the Od reserve inside the gigantic Artificial Emerald Tablet, in other words, Mirror Maze's core, but the device itself ran under the Kuroshida's control. If Shiori could move and use magic through the use of the Doppelganger's core, Kuroshida just had to change the rule of Mirror Maze a bit so that she wouldn't be able to anymore—not to mention the fact that the sadistic witch had effectively kicked Shiori out of the game by making sure that every second she spent inside the Reality Marble would give excruciating pain.

"Mio-chan!"

Shuu heard the shout of his pink-haired classmate Azuma Shione.

While Shuu and Mio didn't have artificial bodies like Shiori, they could move freely inside Mirror Maze. However, they still needed to use magic—defeating Kuroshida was the goal, after all—so they still needed a source of Od for their magic to work. Since there had been no way to connect their magic circuits into the Od inside the Artificial Emerald Tablet, Shuu brought Azuma and Natsuki Kaori, both of whom had the necessary type of Od. That solved the problem of using magic, but also created the need to protect the two helpless human girls from Kuroshida without being fried as well.

Up until now, Shuu, Shiori and Mio had managed to protect the two, but from the way Azuma called out, it seemed that didn't go very well.

Shuu turned his gaze upon Mio again. The red-haired girl had already collapsed. She couldn't endure the pain anymore.

_This is the end._

The moment Mio lost consciousness, Worlds Collide would break and that would be Kuroshida's victory. The worst case scenario couldn't be avoided anymore. Shuu would have to cancel Exhaustive Search and secure an escape route for everyone.

"…Don't…"

"Shiori-chan?"

"Don't… give up," Shiori gasped, "…Believe in Kouno-san."

Just as Shiori had finished her sentence, a thud sound could be heard where Kouno Mio had previously been lying. The five fingers of her right hand, which had seemed given up, now were clenched into a fist. Pushing them against the grass, Mio lifted her body from the ground with every single bit of power—wherever they might be—left in her.

"Not… gonna lose…" Mio grunted, "Definitely… I'M DEFINITELY NOT LOSING TO YOU!"

The red-haired girl's voice came with a tremendous burst of magical power, overflowing. The cracks on Worlds Collide disappeared as if they had never been there.

"Oh… so you have resorted to tapping into your own secondary reserve. That's very brave of you," Kuroshida commented, "But that's all the more reason for me to speed things up and give you all a quick death," while snapping a finger and make the Artificial Emerald Tablet glowed even more intensely. She was pouring even more magical power into the spell!

"Try… as you may… But I'll never…" Mio replied while breathing heavily. She must have been really pushing herself. She couldn't even finish the sentence.

_Exhaustive Search…_

_Progress… 98%_

Just a little more!

"Really… I can't fathom it," Kuroshida said in a bored voice. "What are you even waiting for, Amami-kun?"

"Well…" Shuu looked at his opponent, then his phone again.

_Exhaustive Search…_

_Progress… 99%_

That number spoke for everything. It was just a pity that Kuroshida didn't know it.

"…Your defeat, of course."

Kuroshida looked annoyed, but she would be annoyed a lot more for what was coming next.

_Exhaustive Search…_

_Progress… _

…_..ALL COMPLETE…._

"It's time…" Shuu said, "My turn, Kuroshida!"

Whether it had been over-confidence or simple curiosity, Kuroshida stopped the barrage. In turn, Mio's barrier also faded and then disappeared into thin air. "Good work, Prez," Shuu said while walking pass her.

"Heh… you sure… took your time."

"Rest. I'll handle things from here."

"Fine… If you don't… I'll… kick…" With a breath of relief, Mio collapsed on the ground.

"Mio-chan!" Azuma exclaimed while running towards her best friend.

"Prez, are you okay?" Kaori also followed.

"…" Momono, seemingly had been released from Kuroshida's rule, didn't say a word, but a small green healing glow could be seen emitting from her hands. It seemed she had deemed immediate medical attention more important than words.

Shuu felt a bit guilty for not spending a few minutes to see how Mio was doing, but concluded that he shouldn't waste any more time. He had to repay Mio for the time she had bought him. He continued walking toward Kuroshida.

As the distance between him and the enemy was barely twenty meters, he came to a stop.

"You seem confident," Kuroshdia spoke coldly. "But that doesn't matter..." She held out a hand. "Any last words?"

"Why should I?"

"Well then… Just die."

"Quit using the same thing all over again. I'm sick of it."

"What?"

"You've been using Sylph-based spells for the whole time. I admit elemental spells aren't as easy to use as they sound but isn't that a little wasteful for being a dark arts user of your level?"

In fact, any spell Kuroshida executed could prove her status. Up until now, there hadn't been a single spell she had used that was not lethal—and there was fact that she hadn't been on the offense most of the time as well. It might sound strange, but dark spells tended to be stronger than spells of other types. It wasn't hard to understand since dark spells aimed solely at causing damage and destruction. They had no limitations at all. And with Kuroshida's level, such spells simply stood out too much to not notice.

Basically, he would be screwed no matter what she shot him with—of course only if he didn't have what he was having at the moment.

"You do make a point…"

_She fell for it!_

"Then prepare yourself…" Kuroshida put her hands together, smiling coldly. As she did, the Artificial Emerald Tablet started glowing again. This time the glow was steady, but gravity seemed to have increased. It was harder to breathe as well.

"Savour it, Amami Shuu… Savour this most exquisite pain that I have prepared for the likes of you as you enter an eternal dream."

Just for a moment, Shuu thought that Kuroshida's blood-red eyes glowed.

"O' king of kings." A gigantic black magic circle with an eye-liked symbol at the center appeared in front of her. "Even the king of laws cannot escape the breath of new generations…"

Shuu opened his phone again and glanced at the screen. Kuroshida's power level had already been off the chart for a while now, but it was still soaring higher and higher.

There was no doubt.

If he got hit by that thing, there wouldn't even be a molecule left. He only had one chance!

"Don't worry… You won't feel a thing" Kuroshida said with an insane expression. "Azi… DAHAKA!"

As soon as the word left her mouth, the whole in the center of the magic circle opened wide and a black light leapt out. No… Calling it simply a black light wouldn't suffice. The color was indeed black, but it was having a dark purple glow, and the way it was moving forward was more identical to that of a dragon, a mighty one that would consume everything in its way. It was, indeed, very powerful, very terrifying, very—

—Perfect.

The time to act had come. Shuu ran with all his might toward the dragon with his phone in hand.

"Briah Access…" The phone started cracking beeping like crazy. Shuu swung it in front of him and… "Yetzirah Code – Akercocke!"

A screeching sound was heard.

As if to respond, a black magic circle with an eye-like symbol appeared in front of him. That circle was no different from Kuroshida's circle. And the black dragon that leapt out from it was also no different from her black dragon.

"What?" Kuroshida exclaimed in shock. "How did you…?"

Two black lights crashed into each other, making a thunderous roar. But neither was put out. In fact, they continued to move forward, but as one tried to proceed, the other kept it at bay with the same force.

Aza Dahaka was stopped.

"You… How did you do it…? This is my magic!"

"Guess I never told you, huh? Akercocke is one of the few modern spell with heuristics properties. It can analyze another spell and reproduce it with almost complete perfection."

"Impossible… Even if such a spell existed, it shouldn't have been able to negate my Azi Dahaka!"

For Kuroshida, what Shuu did was completely incomprehensible. It wasn't like she couldn't understand how he imitated her spell, but the fact that how his imitation was just as powerful as hers. Copying someone else's magic was difficult, but not impossible. And Amami Shuu had modern magic, which completely eliminated the need for complex procedures, thus, was a perfect tool for that purpose. It was like comparing using a pen to rewrite a sentence with using computer to copy and paste a single line to produce the same result. Modern magic just had that kind of advantage.

However, there was still one issue left: power. Imitating a spell's structure was one thing, but imitating its power completely fell to the capability category. If Akercocke had only analyzed Azi Dahaka after she had shot it out, there wouldn't have been enough time to raise its power to the same level. Even if Shuu had used the copy and paste command to copy her writing, he had to reproduce it with the closest text style first, and there was obviously no way to do it 100% correct if Kuroshida had written it with ink. There had to be something missing here.

"I know what you're getting at. But are you forgetting something here? _You_ are the one who suggested this copycat game in the first place."

"What are you…?" Kuroshida still couldn't tell whatever trick had been utilized, but she just remembered one thing.

"That time… You were not doing anything at all. Don't tell me that's…?"

"Correct," Shuu confirmed. "Exhaustive Search is not too different in nature, but I can still make it do another task."

"Tsk!"

It was all clear now. Kuroshida had doubted why Kouno Mio wasted her time on defending Amami Shuu while she could have joined him for better offense purpose. But now her action had made sense. It was to buy time for Exhaustive Search to complete. The spell could measure the extent of Kuroshida's power. By inputting that data into his phone, Shuu could replicate her power source, creating a perfect imitation of Azi Dahaka without overloading the phone system.

Exhaustive Search and Akercocke—Truly a fearsome combination.

However—

"Well done, Amami-kun. Very well done…" Kuroshida commented and started laughing. "However… That's not enough!" She brought her hands together again and the purple-ish black dragon began to pulsate. "You have done a good job in avoiding an overload in your system. But this is the end. I can _still_ power up more, but you are going to need a bigger phone to measure this kind of power!"

"I know that." Shuu replied casually. "And I have no intention of trying to go that far either."

"What?"

"Let's make a bargain, Kuroshida..."

"No!" Momono Shiori uttered in shock.

She had just finished providing medical care to Kouno Mio, who had been badly injured. Before treatment, the red-haired girl had blood clots blocking in some main arteries, minor infection and a few ruptured organs—all done by Kuroshida with a single imitation attempt. A normal person would have died in less than fifteen minutes, but thanks to a good healing spell that Shiori knew, those were no longer endangering Mio's life. She still required further treatment and some rest to recover her strength, but for a mage of her level, she would be okay for the moment.

That was because there was something else worth everyone's attention.

"…I'll do whatever you need to prepare for the disaster to come. Sure, I refused this offer earlier, but now I'm willing to take it. So just leave everyone out of it."

Shiori couldn't believe what had just left Amami Shuu's mouth.

A _bargain_?

With _that_ witch?

"Amami-kun…" Azuma Shione muttered. She seemed to share Shiori's sentiment, and so did Natsuki Kaori, who couldn't say a word and was having a shocked expression on her face. No one was able to understand Amami Shuu's intention. Even Kuroshida looked like she was wondering about the proposal herself.

_What did he just say?_

Make a bargain? He refused my offer, did he not? Then _why_?

Kuroshida Kanae wasn't sure how to react to such a ridiculous turn of events. Amami Shuu had indeed gained the upper hand by countering her strongest attack with a perfect imitation. Thanks to that, her magical power had been depleted quite a lot. But that was also her advantage. Right now Amami Shuu must be confident that he could win. Consequently, he would turn to the offense, and that would be his downfall. He didn't know how much Kuroshida was truly capable of. For that, he would die within the next attack. Kuroshida had all that calculations in mind.

But reality had just got to be a bad joke.

None of her calculation had come true. Instead of rushing down and dying like a loser he was, Amami Shuu simply offered her the same deal _she_ had given him three days ago.

It really pissed her off.

It was like he was making fun of her.

It was—

"...Interesting"

Shuu knew he hit a nerve, because with a single finger snap, Kuroshida had erased two black dragons from existence, and one of them was _his_. He didn't know that she still had that kind of power left, even after having spent so much on that monstrous attack. He seemed to have made a correct choice. Continuing any further would have been really dangerous.

"Now, Amami-kun," Kuroshida spoke in a low tone that seemed it would explode at any moment, "You had better tell me a good reason for creating this ridiculous tension that we all are having right now."

"Like I said, I will co-operate with you for whatever reason you have here—on a condition that you leave my friends out of this."

"Then for what purpose did you fight me?" Kuroshida replied with a question, "Surely causing all this mess isn't your past time hobby, is it?" Although there was some irony in the way she put it, her voice hardly indicated that she was joking.

"That was to show you how much I was capable of," Shuu answered the question, staying cautious so as not to unexpectedly incur Kuroshida's wrath, "Although you personally asked us first, if we didn't show you the true extent of our capabilities we would be no different from disposable pawns."

"So… you want me to reconsider your value?"

"You can put it that way. Although I'd prefer you think of it as mutual trust."

"…"

Silence.

From this point onward, Shuu could not anticipate how Kuroshida would act. He had already played his best card. He didn't expect her to be this hard to deal with.

"You know, Amami-kun…" Kuroshida finally spoke, "Despite what you have said, I still want to blast you to bits." Her body started emitting a white light.

_Oh great._

If he could see a graph of his nerve cords, Amami Shuu wouldn't be surprise to see them all lit up like a Christmas tree. That was because he got all tense again after that cold denial from Kuroshida. All of his five senses were on high alert, expecting a big attack from her—which was unnecessary because no attack came.

As the white light that had been encompassing her faded, Kuroshida was once again in her red Kouryoukan uniform.

"…And as much as I hate to admit it, killing you would serve no purpose. Well, since you were looking at me while I changed, I can still you sue for sexual harassment."

"That… was uncalled for," Shuu murmured.

"Well no matter… Perhaps taking my offer this way is more like you. I will let you off the hook for now, but you had better ser—"

"DON'T MESS WITH ME, YOU WITCH!" Kouno Mio shouted while slamming her fist against the ground. "We are not doing any bargain with you! Just stay here so I can beat the crap out of you aga—" Her sentence was cut off midway as she began coughing. Clearly her injuries were not fully healed. But that seemed irrelevant to Kuroshida as she replied in a cold voice.

"Know your place, Miss President. I have no intention to kill a half-dead worm, but I can still comply if you wish to die so badly."

"Stop. We have a deal!" Shuu had to barge in—otherwise this wouldn't go nowhere—and he was actually surprised that Kuroshida paid no further attention to Mio after that. She walked toward him and grabbed his arm. "We are moving."

"Wait!"

Shuu turned around. It had been Shiori who had said it.

"Amami-kun, please don't trust her! She _is_ one of Thule! She may be playing along for now but when the time comes, she won't keep her end of the bargain! Please, Amami-kun… Don't do it…"

He could feel that Shiori had said those last words with utmost sincerity. But all he said to reply was, "Don't worry, Shiori. I know what I'm doing."

As he finished that sentence, both him and Kuroshida had disappeared from everyone in that green space. Whatever happened to him onwards, no one there knew.

"Amami-kun…" Azuma Shione whispered.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

So here goes chapter 1. It's basically a retelling of Hollow Mirror Field's final battle with some slight modification to introduce some terms that readers might not be familiar with, as well as to trigger the Kanae's route Flag. Well, maybe I went a little too far for simple 'slight modifications', but I have compared this one with the previous version that I lost during a full computer boost (did I mention that I lost four chapters?) and determined that these changes are necessary. So… let's just ignore differences and continue next time, shall we?


	3. Chapter 2: Astray

Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. I was kinda busy organizing the contents of this chapter a bit and it turned out to have taken far longer than I had expected. Well that was really unfortunate. But anyway, since the story is more important, please enjoy this chapter without further delay! (One notice though, you might find a familiar joke below if you've watched a certain _good_ anime back in 2011).

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 2:<span>

_Astray_

The scenery around them had changed. Sure it still looked green… But not the deadly green of Mirror Maze—this color was much brighter.

Grass—

So…outside…

This wasn't the first time Shuu saw instant dimensional swap, but he couldn't help thinking about how much of a difference between their powers.

Kuroshida Kanae—

—A hundred-year-old witch.

—and Thule's second-in-command…

_I'm glad I didn't drag that battle on for longer._

But seriously, if this level was only second…what kind of monster was the leader?

"You know there is no turning back, right?" Kuroshida said in a low voice.

"Huh?"

"This path you've chosen… The strongest magus in history is at the end of it," Kuroshida continued without facing him. "Even though I am doing this for her sake, she has her own goal. And her goal is _not_ pleasant for all of us. If you think you can avoid the upcoming calamity by following me, then you are mistaken."

Well…so much for _glad_.

But still—

"You keep saying that something bad is gonna happen, but never explicitly say what it is. How am I supposed to know if I'm even mistaken or not?"

He thought Kuroshida glared at him. "It cannot be explained without going deep into the details."

She began to walk away.

"But for now, just remember its name…"

"Name?"

Kuroshida stopped at the entrance of the park. She slightly turned her head back and showed a thin smile.

"Casus Puteus—the Abyssal Fall."

* * *

><p>Mio put her feet forward.<p>

One step—

Two steps—

Three—

Somehow, they felt heavy. She didn't know why, but it just how she felt.

Dammit.

Why…?

For what purpose…?

_He betrayed us all—that Amami Shuu…_

Still looking at her feet, she walked past what seemed to be an art gallery. Inside were all kinds of pictures and sculptures. In the farthest corner, there was a half-made wooden puppet on the farthest table. Whoever making it must be taking a rest in the real world. The cut were still new.

Had he been planning this all along?

If so—

Without even halting, she looked at her reflection on the glass of a department store.

_Why did he bother bringing us here in the first place?_

"Kouno-san."

Mio stopped and slowly turned around. It was Shiori who had said that. She was donning a haft-curious-half-surprised look on her face.

"Your eyes are red."

"They are not."

"Yes they are," Shiori insisted.

"I'm still recovering from earlier." Mio paid no further notice to the silver-haired girl and was about to continue walking.

"I see," Shiori silently muttered. "But you might want to stop. Azuma-san and Natsuki-san cannot follow you."

Mio stopped trying to walk further. She turned around to find Shione, her best friend.

It was just like how Shiori had said. Shione and Kaori were sitting on a bench just a few meters away. On a closer look, it seemed they were right in front of Cyberiada, a well-known coffee shop in Ayamegaoka. Not too long ago, a girl named Yuka in her class had recommended something called the Rose Cake of this shop to her.

Both Kaori and Shione seemed exhausted. They weren't breathing heavily or something. But they weren't even starting a conversation—and for those two, _that_ spoke for everything.

So she had walked on her own without being conscious of how much time had passed. She felt incredibly stupid.

It wasn't like her at all.

"Sorry…" she muttered. But she only half-knew that she had even said those words. Her mind was still floating around the memories of the battle a while ago. While still looking down, her eyes the sight of her shirt.

Crimson—

It wasn't the color of her uniform. Well, Koukyoukan's uniform was indeed red…but the color she caught a glimpse of was darker than that.

Blood—

It was proof of the battle with Kuorshida Kanae. The witch crushed her organs by (purposely) misusing modern magic when Mio was defending everyone with all her power. It hurt like hell. But she had made it through. She had survived…because she trusted him.

"_Rest. I'll handle things from here."_

She really believed in him...

"_Don't worry…"_

She knew he meant it…

"_I know what I'm doing."_

"Idiot." Mio muttered yet again. Suddenly, something white was pushed into her face—

"Mhhnn! Wha-what the?" She hurriedly swung her arms to take whatever was choking her out of her face. But it was removed when she almost reached it. As her vision returned, in her line of sight was—

"Shiori-chan…?"

It was Momono Shiori who did that. The petite girl was holding a white handkerchief.

"Your eyes are wet."

"What?" she didn't catch what Shiori was saying.

"You were crying."

"Wha—wait a sec! This is wrong! I am not—!" Mio hastily applied her hands to her face and realized it was wet with tears. She embarrassingly tried to wipe it, but Shiori shoved her handkerchief in her face again.

"You're really a tsundere, aren't you?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TSUNDERE?" Mio angrily retorted as soon as she heard that. She pulled the handkerchief off her face with a force enough to rip it into pieces.

"Oh, so you know what it means?"

"Wait that's not it! I don't—"

"Just joking." And so the finishing blow went.

"Kuh…! Why you little…!" Mio was seriously pissed, but couldn't find a single word to talk back.

"At least you look better now," Shiori said while putting the handkerchief back into her pocket. "Azuma-san was worried seeing you like that." She pointed at the table where Shione and Natsuki were sitting at. The two was curiously looking at Mio and Shiori's direction.

"I see… I'm sorry." This time she meant it.

"Don't apologize. I can understand how you feel."

"Do you…?" Mio couldn't help but felt herself sarcastic. But Shiori paid no attention to that.

"I am shocked at what happened, too. I never realized—No…in fact I had doubts about Amami-kun's decision before," Shiori corrected herself. "If you think about it, Kuroshida Kanae is a powerful force to ally with. And since she agreed to no longer pursue Azuma-san and Natsuki-san, he had even more reasons to follow her."

Sure, that was helpful—in a way.

"Ally huh? Are you saying that there is a bigger second play being unfolded?"

"I never said that."

"That's a lie."

"This particular subject does not concern you." Shiori's words were straight and emotionless. Mio could hardly believe that she was trying to cheer her up just a few seconds ago.

"Hey now, Shiori-chan. Don't you dare say that line." She put her hands on Shiori's shoulders. "I don't care if it's Index's business. If they ordered you to keep silent, then I'll not press the matter any further. But that is the past now. I learned to trust you. So now you should learn to trust me too."

Unfortunately, Shiori just shook her head. "This has nothing to do with Index. This is my personal affair. But past events have proven that the situation was too dangerous—and I don't want to involve any other bystander anymore. Even if I don't know how I was a part of it, I will end it with my own hands." Those words were full of determination, but Mio could sense a hint of uneasiness lingering in them.

"You're not cute at all." Mio sighed. "If it's as dangerous as you say, then consider everyone else involved already. Kuroshida got all of us involved in her mess even though none of us wanted to, so I don't see the point of leaving us out of your _bigger_ mess now. It's not like we can afford to, is it?"

Shiori dropped her head. "You don't want to hear it…"

Mio shrugged her shoulders. "Try me. It's not like we have anything better to do at the moment anyway."

"About that… I believe Kuroshida is going to release us soon."

"What makes you think so?"

"Kuroshida said she didn't have enough time to complete the Artificial Emerald Tablet," Shiori explained. "If she wanted to get it over with, she would have to drag us out and sacrifice Azuma-san and Natsuki-san. But if she wanted to keep her promise with Amami-kun, leaving us to die here would be the worst choice to make."

It was a logical explanation. Kuroshida had no reason to keep them inside Mirror Maze forever. She had to release them—and soon.

"Maybe… But I still want to hear your story."

* * *

><p>In a certain hallway of a building at the Vatican, a girl dressed in white was standing in front of a thick metal door. Her outfit was kind of weird, but it somehow gave off the air of a believer—or an apostle.<p>

What even more curious was the girl herself. Her pink twin tails, emerald eyes, slim build—everything—suggested that she couldn't be too old. And that wouldn't be wrong, because she was only nineteen.

Yet the way she was putting her hands together suggested otherwise. Indeed, that would be an example of what an apostle did when praying, but the particular way she did it was just unbelievable. It was so 'honest'—so 'holy'—that it made her more similar to an ancient believer.

"Patriarca—please bestow upon this faithful prayer for the Lord the key of gold and silver."

As the girl said those words, the heavy door in front of her slid open. Normally, even a cluster bomb wouldn't be able to scratch it. After all, it was the office of a Pope. Not the Pope in Saint Peter's Basilica—but another person so important to the Church in particular and to Catholicism in general that no titles but Pope was the only appropriate way to address her.

But this girl was an exception. The only exception. There was nothing strange about it because that very room was where she worked.

The girl stepped inside the Pope office with refined steps.

Inside the room, the first that came in sight was a large square table with seven seats—three on each side and one in the center. However, only one seat was occupied at the moment—the one in the middle. It was also the seat that only one person in the whole world could ever sit.

Even right now, that person—that woman was still sitting on that chair with inhuman composure.

"I, Chamberlain, have returned—Holy Mother," the girl greeted.

"Welcome back, Chiara," Her Eminence—Pope Johanna said with her usual deep voice. "I apologize for summoning you so suddenly."

Johanna was a figure shrouded in mysteries. Her appearance was that of a woman in her twenties, but her composure suggested that she was much older than that. Even more mysterious were her dark golden eyes. They were said to be able to penetrate a person's heart and see their deepest secrets with a single gaze. In the Orients, the eyes were viewed as windows of a person's soul. But if such was the case, if Johanna's eyes were so powerful—how powerful, how profound, how ancient her soul was?

"Thank you for your concern, Your Eminence. It is my duty after all. But to summon me so suddenly, perhaps you have a message that needs delivery?"

"Indeed. I suppose this is one of the most serious messages at this time of year. It is an order for pacification—with the approval of the Council."

"Pacification? How could such an order be given right now?" Chiara Francesca's eyes were wide opened in shock. An order of pacification usually involved dealing with heretics within Index. Whenever the order was given, the Church would attempt to educate the sinner about Christianity again, or simply expel him if there was no other choice.

However, that was only if the order was given to a priest within the Catholic Church. The real order here was delivered to the hands of Index, the shadow side of Catholicism, so the sinner involved this time would be a magus instead of a normal human being. And if it was a magus, heavy resistance would be a given. And if heavy resistance was a given, aggressive suppression would also be a must…

In other words—

—'pacification' would be done as 'execution'.

Chiara disliked such orders. It wasn't like she was not used to such news. But if this order was to be delivered, then it meant two orders of execution were given in the same month.

"It is regrettable, but what approved by the Council is irrevocable. Still, for this occasion only I approve of this order. After all, this is the best way to ensure Ursula's safety."

"Ursula's safety?" Chiara was surprised to hear the name of a friend.

"Yes. You have read her report, have you not? Although she may be more than capable of executing this order, her current priority should be the elimination of the renegade apostles—the Punishment Squad. And even that is an order we have hastily decided without giving her any time to be mentally prepared. Were we to appoint her this new order, it will most definitely cause unnecessary distractions… I suppose you know that is very dangerous considering the opponents she is dealing with, right?"

"Of course, Your Eminence." Chiara was glad that such an order could ensure the safety of Ursula, however cruel it might be. Ursula was like a little sister to her. Placing more burdens on her small shoulders was the least things she ever wanted to do.

"I know you would understand." Johanna smiled. "Then, if you would be so kind, please deliver this order to Saint Vitus of the Holy Beast. I believe he is the only one suited for the job right now."

"Yes, Your Eminence. I'll be going!" Chiara received the envelope from Johanna and walked out of the office.

"May you be blessed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…" Johanna bid farewell to her secretary.

As the door to the Pope Office closed, Chiara was greeted by yet another familiar face.

"Yoh! How're you doing Chiara?" a young woman in a black suit said it a cheerful voice.

"Oh hello Miss Sophia."

Sophia Measley was a researcher here at Index. Her main field of research was creating the Francine, artificial bodies for disabled apostle, but Sophia herself was an expert at almost everything—both scientifically and magically. Chiara could hardly understand what the older woman said whenever she got a little deep into expertise. But they still got along well nonetheless.

After all, they were connected by Ursula…

"New errands again? Woah… Is that a Royal Order?"

"Yes, regrettably."

"That sadist is really into this, isn't she? Who is it for—the receiver, I mean?"

"It's Saint Vitus of the Holy Beast."

"Eh? That guy?" Sophia raised an eyebrow. "How are you even supposed to find him?"

"What do you mean? You sound like he is on another planet right now." Chiara tilted her head curiously.

"No seriously—that guy loves traveling right? And he is the best teleporting magus in Index too. Unless you can nail him somehow, he isn't gonna stay put to receive your letter."

"Oh don't worry. I have his e-mail address."

* * *

><p>Boring.<p>

Shuu didn't know that the day would have been such a drag.

'_Go back to class for now. We will meet later in the library.'_ was what Kuroshida had said. When he had asked her why, she had answered that she had class to attend too.

That had got to be a lie. She only altered everyone's memories before so that people thought she was a student here in this Kouryoukan Academy. Nobody had bothered checking so she had spent most of the time in the library reading. It wasn't too strange… It wasn't like there was anything left for her to learn.

Well…whatever.

Thinking too much about it wouldn't change anything—class was over anyway. It was about time he went and saw her like promised—

—or so he had thought. When he got to the library, there was not a single soul.

"What the…"

It would have been strange if Kuroshida had ever gone to class. But it would be _dead_ strange if she was ever late. It wasn't like she had much to do, right?

"But then again…she is really nowhere to be seen." Shuu sighed and sat down. It seemed he would have to wait—

"Oh…? You're early," a familiar voice was heard.

—or not.

He looked at the entrance of the library and saw Kuroshida there, holding something like a piece of talisman between her index and middle finger.

"What's that?" Shuu asked curiously.

"Shikigami, it seems," Kuroshida replied while looking at the piece of paper between her fingers. "I did not expect to have another Japanese mage in this school. Her magic is not so impressive, but it is quite useful for surveillance."

"'Her'? You even found out the identity of the user through a single piece of paper?"

"I had doubts from the start." Kuroshida released the piece of paper and ignited it with a snap. "When I infiltrated this school for the first time, I noticed quite a few individuals with decent magical power—you included." The talisman burnt to ashes even before touched the ground. "Since there was a chance that those individuals also had the right kind of Od I needed, I kept an eye on all of them."

Shuu felt a little disturbed when she said those words. Even after having agreed to side with her, he wasn't sure if he could ever condone her attitude towards humans. It was as if she viewed them as nothing more than flesh bags with magical power in them.

Kuroshida seemed to have noticed what he was thinking. She showed a cold smile. "Are you still unsatisfied even when I have spared your friends?"

Shuu wasn't able to answer, of course. Even though he was getting a little pissed, talking back wouldn't do him any good at all. No matter what he said, he would never be able to win an argument against Kuroshida. She had walked this Earth for far longer than he did. What he had seen and felt was nothing more than a tiny fraction of what she had experienced.

"More importantly, why don't you tell me about what you know right now? It's the only reason we're still here, right?" he tried to change the topic since it was getting awkward.

"Correct," Kuroshida replied. "But time is running out faster than I expected—so I will use a method more efficient than simply telling you about Liz's plan."

Liz…?

Ah yes… It was the name of the leader of Thule. The name was fairly long, but Shuu still remembered that her name was Lieselotte.

But more importantly, what did she mean by 'more efficient'?

Kuroshida closed the door behind her and walked toward the window near the librarian desk. Shuu's gaze followed her. He had to narrow his eyes a bit when she got near the window at the end of the opposite aisle. The orange light of sunset was quite dazzling since the lights were off. But then it ceased to be so bright, as Kuroshida's figure blocked the light.

Just as he was thinking that Kuroshida was really beautiful—even without her revealing mage outfit—a mysterious look flashed in her crimson eyes.

"Come, Amami Shuu. I will show you…the meaning of true darkness."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

And so chapter 2 ends! This chapter practically has no battles or lovey-dovey scenes, so it took me quite a while to figure out a way of building the tension and the mood. In fact, this rewritten version is about 87% different from the version that I lost during the full boot. That old version has the lovey-dovey process going a bit faster, but after studying HMF route again, I felt it was inappropriate so I kept Kanae's witch side a little longer. Well I don't really know since each reader has his/her own perspective… Since I don't know if it can be considered a good way to set up the stage, just drop any comment and I'll try to improve in the next chapters.

Oh yes… In case you're not familiar with some words from Japanese otaku's culture, "**Tsundere**" (ツンデレ) (English: /ˈsuːndɛreɪ/ or /tsʊ-/, Japanese: [tsɯndeɽe]) is a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms Tsun Tsun (ツンツン), meaning to turn away in disgust, and Dere Dere (デレデレ) meaning to become 'lovey dovey'. Originally found in Japanese bishōjo games, the word is now part of the otaku moe phenomenon, reaching into other media such as maid cafes, anime, manga, novels, and even mass media. The term was made popular in the visual novel _Kimi ga Nozomu Eien_. (Wikipedia)


End file.
